Biodiversity in global agricultural supply chains

Biodiversity is a fundamental element of people’s livelihoods – and it is declining at a rapid pace worldwide. One of the main causes for this deterioration is the changing climate, next to overexploitation of natural resources, pollution on land and in the sea and the displacement of endemic species by invasive species. Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption are driving these phenomena.

The paper thus suggests a fundamental biodiversity- and climate-sensitive transformation, especially in conventional agricultural and food systems. In this regard, designing global agricultural supply chains is key.  The paper elaborates ways how projects in development cooperation can contribute to integrating biodiversity-relevant aspects into agricultural supply chains. As the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are closely interconnected, integrated and holistic approaches are recommended. Due to the complexity of the issue, universal solutions do not exist. It is therefore necessary to link and adapt the numerous instruments in such a way that they can be used meaningfully and purposefully in each specific context.